Lost
by moonstruck101
Summary: Magnolia Hale lost her family and her home. With nowhere else to go she goes to Sam, her best friend and the man who has always been there for her. La Push is a chance for a new beginning, but Sam isn't the only one looking out for Magnolia. Will Magnolia allow herself to be freed from her pain and allow her heart to be captured?
1. Death in the Air

**Summary: Magnolia Hale lost her family and her home. With nowhere else to go she goes to Sam, her best friend and the man who has always been there for her. La Push is a chance for a new beginning, but Sam isn't the only one looking out for Magnolia. Will Magnolia allow herself to be freed from her pain and allow her heart to be captured?**

**I only own Maggie.**

* * *

"I'm sorry for you lost."

"They're in a better place."

"At least they're not suffering anymore."

"They'll always be with you." Magnolia must have heard all this a hundred times today. For once Magnolia was glad the skies were dark and gloomy. It was fitting for how she felt. The rain was cold and heavy. Magnolia's dark hair clung to her back in wet strains, while her black dress was soaked through.

"Maggie, you're going to get sick." Laura whispers, moving her umbrella to cover the both of them.

"We can't get sick, Laura." Maggie's voice was weak and emotionless. She had cried every ounce of emotion out of her. She felt empty and cold. She didn't want to feel warm. She wanted to embrace the cold. It felt safer than giving into the warmth.

"Maggie, we need to keep up appearances." Maggie felt anger as she heard Laura. A frighteningly growl escaped her as she looked at her cousin with hatred in her eyes.

"I do not care about appearances, Laura. Hiding who we are got us nowhere. They're dead regardless." She snaps. She couldn't even look at Laura or Derek.

"I know how you feel-"

"No, you don't!" She shouts.

"Magnolia, stop, everybody, is watching." Laura whispers as she looks around worriedly.

"I don't care! Do you think I care about any of these people!" She shouts as she glares at the people around her, daring them to speak up. "None of them even knew our family! They are just here to gossip and steal what they can from the house!"

"Magnolia-"

"You have no idea what I'm feeling! Or how I am doing! Or what I'm going through! You weren't there!" She screamed. Pain and hurt filled Laura's eyes. Good, Magnolia thought. "You thought a basketball game was more important than the family dinner." Her voice is cold and as sharp as knives. "I was there! I watched my family burned to death! I heard their screams!" Tears ran down Magnolia's face, but she didn't care. Let them run. She didn't care. She didn't feel anything anymore. "I had to drag my father out! I stopped the fire from killing him! I was there! You weren't!" Magnolia screams into Laura's face, pushing with all her strength. Laura went fall three feet back into one of the older gravestones. "Get the hell out of my face." Magnolia shoulders past Derek, glaring at him on the way.

The whispering started up, causing Magnolia to turn to them. "Don't you have something better to do!" She yelled. "This is a private event. Get the hell off my property! Now!" She screamed with everything she had. The people ran off quickly, leaving the depressing and cold cemetery. Magnolia gave one last look towards her mother's grave. A bouquet of red magnolia flowers rested on the grave, they had been her favorite. Magnolia closes her eyes, trying to erase her mother's screams from her mind.

She took a shaky breath before walking through the cemetery and out the old iron gates. The cemetery was just a few yards behind the old house, which now sat ruined before her. The smell of smoke, ash, and burning flesh still hung heavy in the hair. Even without her added boose of senses, she could smell it.

She walked around the house and towards her black charger. She didn't care that people were still around. She stripped off her black dress and changes into a pair of jeans, a tank top, and her leather jacket, which she got from her bag inside the car. She slipped on a fresh pair of socks and her boots. She threw the black dress to the ground, not caring if she never saw the dress ever again. She pulls her hair up into a bun, staring up at the house. "Goodbye, daddy. I love you." She whispers before slipping into her car. The soft leather seats engulfed her as she settled in. She took a deep breath before starting the car. The engine purred as she started it up. It had been a birthday present from her father last year. The car was practically brand new, the inside interior still had that new car smell and it had all the little upgrades. With Peter Hale, it was always all or nothing.

Magnolia wiped her eyes as she took a shaky breath. She turned around and drove down the driveway. Her home was gone. She had no family left, none that she was willing to be with, and she had nothing holding her here any longer. With nothing else left it only made sense to return to the one thing she still had. Sam Uley.

He had been her friend since they were kids. Their mothers were close. She hasn't seen him in years, but she knew he'd be there. He was always there when she needed him. The phone rang only twice before she heard his voice. "Hello." It was deeper than when she last heard it, but she knew it was him.

"Sam… It's Maggie." She whispers.

"Mags? Hey, hon, how are you?" He knows. She can hear it his voice. Laura must have told him the news. It made her feel better. She didn't have to go through it all again.

"I've been better. I'm going to be coming to the reservation tomorrow… I was hoping I could stay with you for awhile." She says, biting her lip. "I have nowhere else to go." She can feel the tears threatening to fall, but she needed to be strong. She was a Hale. She can't cry. Hales are stronger than that. She already cried enough. No more. She needed to take a breath and be strong. It's what her dad would want.

"Mags, you know you are always welcomed here. You're like my sister." Technically they were godsiblings. His mother was her godmother and her mother was his godmother. They always thought of the other as their sibling.

"Thanks, Sammy. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Fall in a puddle of defeat." For the first time since the fire, Maggie laughed. It felt good. It felt right. Sam always managed to do that. No matter how upset she was Sam was always there for her.

"How have you been?" Maggie asks.

"Have you heard about Leah and I?" She had. It was all her mother could talk about before the fire. Leah and Sam were going to get married a month ago, but two days before the day Sam called it off. He's now starting a relationship with Leah's cousin. If Maggie had been a normal person than she would yell at Sam, but she knew there was more to it.

"What made you change your mind?" Maggie asks as she switched lanes.

"It's hard to explain." Maggie frowns as she checks in her mirrors.

"You know everything about me, Sam, whatever it is you can tell me." Sam and his family were the only ones who knew her family secret. She also knew the legend of Sam's people. Not many knew it, but there were things out there such as werewolves, vampires, shifters, witches, those kinds of things. Sam's people were supposed to be descendants from wolves. They were to phase into wolves when the cold ones, vampires, were around. Their job was to protect their people and their land from the bloodsuckers. They were called shifters, you had to have Quileute blood in order to be one. "Are the legends true?" Maggie asks.

"I'm supposed to keep the secret." Which means it is true and Sam is one.

"You know I'm a werewolf. You kept my secret. I'll keep yours… in exchange from a room and some food." Sam's booming laugh filled the phone, causing Maggie to smile. "Plus, if you think about it, we're both dogs." The difference between the wolf shifters and werewolves were that Sam turned into an actual wolf, a process called phasing. Maggie, however, takes on the appearance of a wolf with her eyes, ears, teeth, nails, and her face. She also is stronger on full moons and had super senses, strength, reflexes, and healing. Being a werewolf, however, is dangerous because with werewolves came hunters, humans who make it their job to kill them.

Only powerful werewolves can actually turn into a wolf, mostly alphas like Maggie's aunt and now Laura. Maggie's now an omega, a wolf without a pack. It made her weaker and at more risk, but none of that concerned her. She didn't need a pack or an alpha, she just needed Sam.

"Mags?"

"Hmm, sorry. I was just… I got stuck in my head again." She jokes. She often zoned out. She thought too much.

"If you need a pack… you can always join us. I know you're a werewolf and you can't run as fast as us, but… you can always join us." She knew he was trying to help, but she couldn't be a part of his pack. She couldn't read his wolf thoughts or shift into a wolf. She would help him if he needed it, of course, but she could run with him or join him.

"You know we have to run separately. I'm not like you and you're not like me. A pack with you isn't an option. We'll be there for each other, but I can't join you."

"I'm staying at Emily's, you're more than welcome to stay with us."

"You only started dating though, right?"

"Emily moved back to be with me." Sam tells me. "And my mom… she's not happy with me right now. We thought it was best that I stayed with Emily."

"She's mad about Leah?"

"Yeah. I never meant to hurt her." But you did, Maggie thought.

"You can't help who you imprint on. Just like I can't help who I moonstruck on, you know when I find my mate."

"Do you want to find your mate?" Maggie thought about her parents. They were so happy and so in love. She can't remember a time that they weren't together. Wherever one went the other was sure to follow. They loved each other more than life itself, but now her father was in a coma, burned, and grieving from the loss of his mate. Maggie doubted he'd ever be able to wake up after losing his mate. Maggie heard the pain is so great that you either shut down or die. She didn't want that for her, but she also can't imagine never finding her mate. She can only hope he'll be strong enough to defend himself because her parents are proof that she can't protect her mate from everything.

"I do… I just am also afraid."

"It's understandable after what happened." Maggie sighs and leans her head back.

"I should go and stay focused on driving. I'm sure you have a lot to do. I will see you tomorrow."

"Okay and Mags?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. Drive safe." Maggie smiles.

"I love you too, Sammy."


	2. One Day

Paul glances up as he shoves another bite of food into his mouth. Emily was an amazing cook/baker. Everything she ever made was never less than perfect. "Who was that?" Jared asked, what they all wanted to know once Sam hung up.

"A friend." Sam tells them before glancing at Emily. "I hope you don't mind, she's going to be staying with us for awhile."

"Is that the friend…" Emily trails off, but Sam obviously knew what was trying to say because he nods, his fingers run across Emily's cheek. Emily's face had healed a lot since she got them, but Paul knew Sam still blamed himself. His eyes were always filled with regret and guilt when he would look at Emily, but Emily, the sweet girl, never was one to hold a grudge. She didn't blame Sam at all for what happened and despite all the Leah drama, the two were happy. Paul wanted what they have and he knew Jared did too. Paul never thought he'd ever want to settle down with one girl, but ever since he phased he has dreamed of finding his imprint. He wanted so badly to find her.

"Who?" Paul glances over at Jared before looking at Sam.

"Yeah, who?" Paul asks once he swallowed his food. He took a sip from his beer. Sam ever let them drink anything more than beer, stating wolf or not they were too young to drink, but he did allow them a beer or two at dinner. He bought it for them and despite it doing nothing for them, it did make them feel at least a bit normal.

Sam cleared his throat and glances over at Paul and Jared. He looked uncomfortable, which only made Paul more curious. "Her name's Magnolia Hale. Our moms went to college together." He explains to them. "Her, uh…" Sam rubbed the back of his head and sighs, a look of sadness crept into his eyes. "Her family died a couple of days ago."

"Shit." Jared breaths out. "Her entire family?" Sam nods.

"House fire. Her dad survived it, but he's in a coma, the doctors don't think he'll wake up." Paul frown as he looked down at the table. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to lose your entire family. Sure his dad was a deadbeat and his mom was god-knows-where, it didn't mean he would want them dead. "Her two cousins weren't there during the fire, but Maggie doesn't want to stay with them."

"What about Maggie?" Jared asked. "Was she… there?"

"Yeah." An awkward silence filled the room, the mood suddenly became sorrowful.

"This pie tastes great, Em." Paul smiles, trying to brighten the mood and change the subject. Jared snorts.

"I wasn't sure you even tasted it." Paul shot Jared a glare as Emily giggled.

"You're patrolling tonight Jared." Sam spoke up. "Paul are you staying here or going home?" Since Paul and Jared have phased Emily's place has become a sort of second home to them. They spent most of their days and nights here.

"I'm probably going to head back to my place." Paul still wasn't entirely comfortable in the pack. Jared and Sam were best friends, while Paul had never really spent time with them until he phased. He always felt like an outsider. He has adjusted a lot since the beginning, especially after what happened to Emily, but Paul still didn't want to crowd them too much.

"You know you're always welcome to stay." Emily speaks up. Paul smiles at her. He was thankful for them both. Sam has all taken Paul under his wing so to speak. He made it his job to keep an eye on Paul, who has the most trouble controlling his temper, and Paul has come to look up to Sam. Emily has all but stepped up as the pack's mother with how she looked after all of them, made sure they ate enough and got enough sleep, he couldn't really describe how much being in this pack has come to mean to him.

"I know." Paul tells them. "It's just been a long day. I'll take do the morning patrol. I'm going to get some sleep beforehand."

"You took patrol last night, Paul, get some sleep." Sam dismisses.

"I'm sure you have to be up early for when your friend gets here-"

"So I should take the patrol. I'll be up anyways."

"Sam-"

"Paul." Sam places a hand of Paul's shoulder. "Get some sleep. You got nothing to prove to us." Paul looks away, slightly embarrassed from Sam seeing right through him. "Go on." Paul nods and slips out the door.

Paul didn't live with his dad. He moved out shortly after phasing. It had been Sam's idea. Paul often got into fights with his dad and Sam thought that if Paul stayed there then he'd kill his father, the idea becoming more realistic after Emily's accident, so now Paul has his own place, thanks to the elders. They helped arrange a place for him to stay, him protecting the tribe was payment for the house. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was comfortable. Sam and Emily got their house in a similar deal after Emily's accident. Sam relationship with his mother wasn't as good anymore and Sam thought it was best if he got his own place with Emily.

Paul unlocks his front door and steps into the house. He still hasn't finished moving in. The only rooms that were done was the two bathrooms, Paul's bedroom, and the kitchen. The living room was still completely empty and the second bedroom even had an echo.

Paul shut the door behind him, dropping his keys in the bowl on the kitchen's island. He took his shoes off by the door and heads down the hall to his room. No one would imagine that Paul actually had a neat and clean house. He didn't like messes. Sure he ate like a pig and acted like one on occasion, but he always cleaned up after himself.

His room was a dark blue with a king size bed, a dresser, two bedside tables, and a small closet being the only things in the room. He wasn't big on decorations. The only thing he had that could be considered decorations were the dark curtains that Emily got him for a house warming gift.

Paul pulled off his shorts and climbed into his bed. He slept naked, liking the feel of his silk sheets against his bare skin. He gave a throaty groan as he laid down on the cool silk. After phasing Paul changed a lot. He used to spend time partying with the school's druggies, but after phasing Paul really changed. He stopped partying, stopped doing drugs, stopped getting into trouble. He has really started growing up, but most importantly Paul stopped sleeping around. There were weeks when he would have a different girl every night, but now Paul has promised himself to only his imprint. Even though he was completely set on waiting for his imprint, it didn't mean he found the waiting difficult. Especially with the silk sheets.

Paul groans as he rubs up against the silk. He found himself having withdrawals more from sex than drugs. He knew phasing made it so drug withdrawal was not a thing for him, but phasing couldn't stop the desire for sex. It didn't help that he often smelt Sam in the morning and could only smell sex or how sometimes Sam's mind would slip to what he did with Emily. Whenever the hunger got too much Paul pleasure himself. He hated doing it. He always thought it was wrong. It should be his imprint pleasuring him. Before phasing he wouldn't even have to think about jerking off, but now, all he can think about was how he wished it was his imprint who was touching him and it made him feel guilty for orgasming without her.

Paul sighed as he rolled over, staring up at his ceiling. He keeps fighting his need, but he knew that if he fought it much longer than he was going to snap. He still remembers the last time he let his lust get too far.

Sam had all but told him to go jerk off. Paul's sexual frustration always turned to anger and that turned into uncontrollable phasing. So guilt or no guilt he had to release his sexual tension occasionally.

Paul closes his eyes as he wraps his hand around himself. He whimpers as he begins to rub his hand up and down him. He hated doing this. But he had to. He couldn't let himself snap. A throaty groan escaped him as he sped his hand up. He rocked into his hand, his mind thinking about his imprint. He didn't know who she was or what she looks like, but it helped him to think about her when he did this. If he thought about her then it helped ease the guilt.

"Fuck." Paul groans as his eyes rolled into the back of his skull and his speed splattered out into his hand and onto his sheets. His breath is heavy and his body was even more tired. He closed his eyes and lets out a heavy breath.

One day he'll find his imprint and one day it'll be her getting him off. He just has to keep waiting for her. He smiled as he lets the hope fill him. One day...


	3. Caught in a Trance

Maggie didn't stop until she got to Sam's house. He had sent her the address shortly after they ended their conversation and after arriving in Washington she had put it into her GPS. It wasn't hard to find Sam's place. She found his house to be quite charming. It was set in the woods, two stories, with a front porch, and made entirely of wood. It was small but cozy. Maggie loved the Hale house, but she always how big it was. It was always so lonely and empty when there were no pack meetings going on. She could see herself living here. There were two trucks sitting outside the house, one she figured was Sam's, but she didn't know who the other's was. She felt a bit odd with her sports car, but she was a Hale and almost everyone knew that they had money. Plus, her father was the type of man that loved to show his wealth. Her car was the last of her father's treasures. It was the only thing she really owned.

She turns the car off and gets out. The front door opened and the tension she had faded away. He looked so different, but she still recognizes him. He had grown at least half a foot and his body was twice it's width. He defiantly had some muscles. "Mags." She grins as he walks towards her.

"Sammy." She runs to him, jumping into his arms. He laughs as he spins around.

"Hey, pup." He always called her that and despite how corny it was, she loved it. "How are you doing?" He pulls away and looks her over. Her fingerless gloves covered most of the burns on her hands, but her fingers still were beat red. She had gotten lucky. The only burns she had was on her hands and the burned handprint on her forearm from where her cousin had grabbed her. "Do they still hurt?" Her blue eyes lifted to meet his brown ones.

"They'll heal." She saws. "I got the better deal." Sam looked at her with sympathy, before kissing her temple.

"I'm sorry, Maggie." She took a deep breath and stepped back.

"I'm okay. I just… I just want to move on." Sam nods.

"I understand. Come on, I want you to meet some people."

"Do they know that I know?" She asks, already guessing that he's talking about his pack.

"Yeah, but I didn't tell them about…" About her secret, she knew he wouldn't. She gave him a nod.

"Thanks. I guess I'll explain it myself… but can I do it after? I'm tired and…"

"I know. It can wait, for now, let's get you settled in." She smiles and lets him lead her inside. Two guys, equally as big as Sam sat at a table with a woman serving them plates with an enormous amount of food on the plates. The woman had three deep red scars going down her face, they looked recent and they looked like claws. Maggie knew better than to ask, so she quickly looked away from them. She knew it sucked to have people stare at your scars. She didn't have her burns for long, but she already hated people staring at them.

"Paul, chew before you choke." The girl says to the bigger of the two boys. "Jared, save some for Sam." She slapped the smaller one's hand. She was like a mother to them. It made Maggie smile seeing it. She reminded her so much of Talia, except Talia would be adding a glare to each of her statements, but you always knew she wasn't really mad because she always had an amused smile on her face.

"Guys this is Magnolia." Maggie grimaces at the use of her full name.

"Please do not call me that." Maggie begs. She didn't like being called Magnolia. It made her sound too bright and happy, whereas, she was far from that. She was a Hale. She had a temper, her bite was a lot worse than her bark. Magnolia just sounded too nice for her.

Sam chuckled as he looked down at her. "I'm Emily." The girl spoke up as she walked over. "It's so nice to finally meet you." So this was Emily. She was beautiful, even with the scars.

"Maggie." She smiled as she shook the small girl's hand. Maggie stuck out like a sore thumb among these people. They all had black hair, brown eyes, and russet skin. Maggie had dark hair too, but you could clearly see it was brown and her eyes were bright blue and her skin was a light tan.

"That's Jared and Paul." Maggie glances away from the kind woman and towards the large men. The smaller one had only a pair of shorts on, while the other was dressed in shorts, a muscle shirt, and shoes.

Jared waved, his mouth full of food. Paul only had time to glance up when Maggie looked at him. It was like being hit with a tidal wave. Her eyes met his and suddenly everything disappeared besides them. The only thing that mattered was him. She wanted to protect him, love him, care for him. Her whole world revolved around him. She lived for him. Heat ran through her body as electricity rushes through her blood. Her heart pounds in her chest, while her breath catches in her throat. She can't think, can't breathe, all she can do is stare at the man with love and affection.

"Holy shit, look at her eyes." Jared's voice snapped Maggie out of Moonstruck and she realized that her surroundings were being seen in a red haze. Her eyes had shifted during the trance. Maggie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her golden eyes returning back to their baby blue. When she opened her eyes she could see all but Sam staring at her in shock, well Sam was staring at her in shock too, but a different kind of shock.

"Opps." Maggie says as she gives them an awkward smile.

"Your eyes were gold!" Jared said with an awestruck look.

"Uh, yeah, it happens…" Maggie says, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She wasn't exactly comfortable with them staring at her. She had plenty of people stare at her in these past few days and she really did not want more people to do it. Already she can feel her temper rising. "Can you stop staring." Maggie all but snapped. Sam chuckled from beside her, already know how bad a Hale's temper could be.

"Jared, eat before your food gets cold." Emily orders before giving Maggie an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about him, he lacks in the field of manners." Maggie can't help, but grin. She liked this girl. She had some sass to her.

"I'm going to go bring your things in." Sam says as he kisses the top of her head before heading out, leaving her in a room with people she barely knew.

"Are you hungry?" Emily asks as if on cue, Maggie's stomach growled.

"Sounds like it." Maggie grins.

"Sit, I'll make you up a plate. Jared, you have enough." She slapped Jared's hand away. Emily had made pancakes, eggs, toast, and had a large bowl of fruit salad on the counter that Jared kept reaching for.

Maggie could feel Paul's eyes on her. She glances over at him and he smiles. His smile sends a warm tingling sensation down her body. Maggie motions to the sit beside him. "You mind?"

"No, go ahead." She shoots him a smile before moving and sitting down next to him.

"Anything important you want me to leave behind?" Sam asked as he walks in with her bags. The house took away all her possessions. The only thing in those bags was a whole new wardrobe, her bathroom supplies, and a couple other pairs of shoes. She only had one photo left of her mother and father, which resided in her locket which was around her neck.

"No, it's just clothes and things." Sam nods.

"I'm going to put these in your room." She nods and watches as he heads for the stairs before disappearing up them.

"Here you go." Maggie looks back at Emily and smiles again. It was easy to smile at them. She knew they all had to know about her and even though she caught sympathetic looks in their eyes, none of them brought it up. They let her feel comfortable, which made her all the more glad to be here.

"Thanks." She grabbed her fork and stabbed it into one of the grapes, they were her favorites.

"So, what are you?" Jared asked. Maggie paused, fork halfway to her mouth. She glanced at him and pulled the grape into her mouth, taking a moment to chew it.

"I'm a werewolf." She told him. "An actual werewolf." She added when he went to open his mouth.

"Meaning?" She raises an eyebrow. "Well, as a werewolf what can you do?"

She takes a bite of her pancakes. She didn't really want to have to explain it all. "Her senses, reflexes, strength, and healing are increased." Sam explains as he sits down. "She's stronger than us and her healing is quicker. Our senses are in about the same range." Sam takes his plate from Emily.

"I also can change my appearance as you already witnessed partially." Maggie tells him before stabbing another grape.

"If you can heal then why can't heal your hands." Maggie froze as Jared asked this. She looked at him, her breathing all, but stopped. "Ow, shit." Jared curses, Maggie catches Paul giving Jared a glare. She can only guess that Paul kicked him.

"What else can you do?" Paul jumped in to ask, trying to ease the tension in Maggie's body. She took a long moment to answer, still struggling from the last question.

"Some of us can turn into wolves." She finally said. "But most that can are alphas. You have to be both physically strong and spiritually."

"Spiritually?"

"Yeah, being able to turn into a wolf shows that you have a strong sense of self. Which translate to you are comfortable with who you are. But it mostly depends on your physical strength. No beta or omega has claimed to be able to do it."

"Beta and Omega?" Jared asked as he rubbed his leg.

"Alphas lead the pack, betas make up the pack, and omegas are those without a pack."

"And what are you?" Maggie frowns.

"I used to be a beta."

"She also gets more powerful on full moons." Sam spoke up, saving Maggie from having to explain further. "But it's harder for her to control herself too."

"She-wolves loses control twice a month, actually." Maggie spoke up. Sam raises an eyebrow. "At least those who hit puberty." Realization crosses their faces and the guys look away embarrassed. Maggie rolled her eyes.

"So what you have to be locked up on full moons?" Jared asked, causing her to roll her eyes once more.

"I was born a werewolf. I know how to control myself. We are taught to find an anchor."

"An anchor?"

"Yeah, something that keeps us human. It can be a person, a place, a memory."

"What's your anchor?" Paul asks, causing Maggie to frown.

"My dad." Sam gives Maggie a sympathetic look. He knew how close the two were. As a kid, she followed Peter everywhere. What he did she copied. She was daddy's little girl.

"So, where did Laura and Derek go." Maggie scowled at the mention of her cousin.

"I didn't ask." Anybody could see Maggie was not too happy with them, so Sam tried to think of something else to say when Paul was the one to fix the awkwardness that filled the room.

"If you want I can show you around." Paul spoke up.

"We're going to the beach this afternoon if you want to come with us." Sam added. Maggie glances over at Paul. His eyes are so warm and they're filled with so much affection. Maggie couldn't say no to him. She wasn't lying to Sam when she said she wanted a mate. She was just scared of losing him.

"Yeah, sure." She smiled. Paul's own smile widen as he looked at her. He was sure good to look at and he seemed nice enough.

"Great, finish your breakfast and we'll go." Paul says, causing her to nod. The conversation veered off her finally and towards the boys.

"Jared had patrol last night and you had it the night before." Sam spoke up.

"You had it this morning, though." Paul added.

"I can take the morning patrol." Jared jumped into say.

"I'll take tonight." Sam says.

"I can do it." Paul tells him.

"It's my turn-"

"Yeah, but you Maggie just got here and I think more than just Emily should stay with her." Maggie bites back a smile as she looked at Paul. The bond was already affecting him. He didn't want to leave her unprotected.

"You do realize I can defend myself, right?" Maggie speaks up, but the boys completely ignored her.

"Fine, then you stay with her." Sam says, causing Paul's head to shoot up. "I'll take patrol tonight, tomorrow is Saturday, so we'll patrol later." Sam didn't give Paul time to argue as he waved him away. "Now, go show Maggie around." Paul looks like he's about to argue, but then he nods and glances at Maggie.

She takes the rest of her grapes and starts for the door. She managed to eat half of what Emily gave her, she's been serving wolves too long to know to give a normal plate to someone, but Maggie wasn't about to not finish her grapes.

"You sure like grapes." Paul says as she pops two into her mouth. She takes a second to answer, too busy chewing and swallowing.

"I love fruit, but grapes are defiantly my favorite." She smiles. "Want one?" She holds them out to him, but he shakes his head.

"I'm good." She just shrugs and follows him as they got back on the main road. "These are the section of housing for the pack."

"The pack gets its own houses?" Maggie asks as she pops another grape into her mouth.

"Yeah, as long as we need or want to. Jared still lives with his parents, but he's thinking about moving up here so he can be closer to us if we need him."

"Cool. So you live up here?" She asks, causing Paul to glance at her.

"Yeah, I live down that way." He points down behind them. "About half a mile."

"That's cool." Maggie smiles, so he lived close to her. Paul looked at her for a long moment.

"If you want to check my place out…. I mean, I'm still moving in and everything, so it's a bit empty, I spend most my time at Emily's so I don't really have food in the house or anything, but…"

"Maybe after we come back from the beach, I'll check it out." Maggie smiles, causing Paul's eyes to run up and down her body. She grins and looks back ahead of them. "So, where to first?"

"Uh, there's not much around here, but I can show you the reserves' town square. It has some small shops and cafes there. The beach is also close by there. The beach is First beach, there's another, but we don't go to it. It's a lot smaller and not as nice. The beach is the pack's hang out. Not many people go there except for us. Those that do tend to go on the other side."

"Why?"

"No one knows about us. They think Sam's running some kind of cult." Maggie snorts.

"Of course they do. All people do all day is gossip."

"We don't really argue with them."

"Well, you'd rather them believe what they want versus knowing the truth."

"Yeah."

"Come on, show me the reservation." Maggie said as she finishes off her grapes, grabs his hand, and leads him down the road. She has only been here for a short bit, but it felt nice being here. She can already feel herself relaxing.


	4. You Drive Me Crazy

AN: This is a lot longer chapter than I had planned. I planned on it being only being 2,000 words at the most, but it's almost 5,000. I could have broken it up into two parts, but I kind of like how this went and I felt like breaking it into two chapters would ruin the flow. So I hope you guys enjoy the extremely long chapter. It contains Jared's teasing, Paul's suffering, and Maggie 's embarrassment. What could be more entertaining?

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Paul was true to his word. He showed her the town square where the different shops and cafes were, then he should her the beach, and the different places such as the small hospital and the police station. He showed her all of La Push minus the people's homes. It surprised Maggie to see that La Push was just a smaller version of any regular town. It had a police station, a hospital, different shops, a small movie theater that really only played two movies a day, and it had a small arcade. It was a nice homey place. Nothing was really fancy or big, but cozy and quaint. Maggie's favorite place was by far the beach. She had always loved the beach. The smell of the salt water, the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks, the beauty of it when the sunsets.

She was excited to be returning back to it. When they got back to Emily's she already had a large basket ready to take with them and a pile of towels and a beach blanket. "Finally, you guys are back." They were gone for almost three hours. Maggie spent that time taking everything in, listening to all the old legends that Paul kept telling her. Paul was great at storytelling. He made the legends seem so thrilling and captivating. Maggie didn't know if it was just because she loved listening to his voice or because the stories themselves were interesting.

"Leave them alone." Emily smiles. "You should get changed." She adds. "With these guys around, you'll want to wear a bathing suit even if you don't plan on going in." Maggie didn't bother asking why Emily insisted, she figured the guys probably threw Emily in for all she knew.

She gave Emily a nod before heading upstairs. She heard Paul whimper as she got to the stairs. "You're worse than a lovesick puppy. She'll be back in a minute." She heard Jared tease. She smiles as she heads into her room. The room wasn't anything incredible. It was small with light gray, almost a silver, walls and soft dark gray carpeting. Her bags were at the foot of her bed and as she crouches down by them she can hear the guys downstairs, still teasing Paul. She grabs her bikini, one that Laura had given her last year. If it didn't look so good on her then she'd probably throw it out. It's a dark blue color, which made her eyes pop, and had thin straps that tied around her neck. The top pushed her breasts up, while the bottoms had ties on either side and cupped her ass. She paired this with her black flip flops, a pair of rather short jean shorts, and a tight tank top. Her burns are still healing, so she couldn't get them wet. She wrapped them up in the medical wraps, a reminder that they're there and to not get them wet, while also making sure they don't get any infection. The white gauze stood out like a sore thumb, but there wasn't much she could do about that.

She pulled her hair up into a ponytail before heading back downstairs. She walked into the kitchen to see them waiting for her. "Took you long enough." Paul growled as Jared said this, but she saw the teasing smile on his face.

"I took my time, figured you wouldn't care if you had the time to tease Paul." Jared chuckled before seeing her wraps. Paul must have noticed too because he suddenly stood in front of Maggie and gave another warning growl.

"Now, that you're ready, how about we get to the beach." Sam jumped in, easing the tension in the room.

"Down boy." Maggie teases as she walks around Paul and follows Sam out the door. Paul takes her hand in his, causing her to flinch, her hands are still sensitive. "Ow."

"Shit, sorry."

"Don't be. Just maybe, don't hold my hand until they've healed." she says as she carefully pulls her hand out of his weak grip.

"Are you going to be okay with going to the beach?" Sam asks, looking over at her with a concerned look.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, I just can't get them wet." Sam and Emily pack the truck up, in order not to have to carry it all there.

"Do you want to walk or ride with them?" Paul asks as Jared hops into the back of the truck.

"Can we walk?" Paul smiles at her, a smile that fills Maggie with a warmth. She wished she could hold his hand. His hand had felt so warm, but warmth on burns only made the pain worst. She bit her lip and glances up at him.

"What's wrong?" She wanted him to touch her, but she also didn't want to hurt herself.

"I don't have any burns on my shoulders." She says, hoping he got the hint as they started walking towards the beach. Paul did get the hint. He smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. She carefully wrapped her arm around his waist.

"Careful of your hand." Paul says as he makes sure her hand doesn't hit his skin. She sighs and moves her arm away, her hand was too close and as they walk she knew it would hit his side. "I'm sorry." She looks up at him and forced a smile.

"It's not your fault. I hate when people apologize for things that aren't their faults."

"I just hate seeing you in pain." Paul says before an idea came to him. "If you want I can give you a piggyback ride." She raised an eyebrow, a smile on her face.

"I'm not a kid, Paul, I can walk."

"You don't have to be a kid for a piggyback ride." She smiles.

"Fine." He crouches down and she hops up onto his back. His hands hold her legs in place as her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Wow, I can see the beach from up here." Paul snorts as Maggie gently wraps her arms around his neck, being careful of her hands.

"I'm not that tall."

"You're tall enough." He had to be about 6'5", while she was only 5'3", not exactly tiny, but compared to Paul she was an ant.

"You comfortable?"

"Yup." She smiles, resting her head on top of his. He chuckles, holding her tighter. "You're so warm."

"That's what happens with us being shifters. Our body temp is higher."

"I like it." She says. "But I don't think my hands do. Burns tend to hurt more with heat."

"Em, might have some ice."

"That'd be nice." She sighs, just thinking about cool ice on her hands was nice. They walked in silence for a moment, the sound of nature is the only sound around them.

"Did you want to find your mate?" Paul suddenly asks, causing Maggie to snap out of her thoughts.

"Yes. I did." She tells him truthfully. "I'm just a little scared of losing you now." Paul lowered her onto the ground before turning around.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Sometimes we don't get a choice in the matter." Paul runs his thumb across her cheek. "My mom died… in the fire… doctors don't think my father will ever wake up. They think it was the trauma of the burns and the fire, but I know it's from losing my mom. Losing your mate… It's the worst thing in the world."

"I'm not going anywhere, Maggie." His thumb runs across her bottom lip, causing her to shiver. Her eyes lift up to meet his.

"Kiss me." He leans down without a second of hesitation and kisses her. His lips are just as warm as the rest of him. He pulls her towards him as she deepens the kiss. She wants to just grab him and hold him, but she knew her hands were not near ready for that. Driving was hard enough. Paul's hand moves to her hair, pulling the elastic out and letting the dark waves cascade down her back. His fingers tangle into the thick locks as he pulls back for air. Maggie stares up at him, her heart pounding in her chest.

"I'm not going anywhere, Maggie. I promise." At that moment Maggie wanted to cry. All the pain she had been building in the last couple of days just came crumbling down. It was like a wall collapsed and a tsunami came crashing through. "Hey, sh, it's okay." Paul pulled her into his arms as she started crying. She tried her best to hold it back. Hales didn't cry. They force their emotions back and carry on. They didn't show weakness. "Just let it out, Maggie." Paul whispers, kissing the top of her head. "Just let yourself cry." He knew she was holding back. She was sure he could feel it. He gently started swaying her back and forth. It helped calm her and soon she had stopped crying and was just letting herself sway with Paul. He was humming a soft melody as his fingers brush through her hair.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You had a rough couple of days." Maggie snorts.

"Did you just make a dog pun?" Paul chuckled.

"Wasn't intentional." She smiles and snuggles further into Paul's arms. It felt nice. Him holding her and gently swaying. She felt safe. Something she hasn't felt since the fire. "It's okay to cry every now and then, Maggie. What you went through…" Paul's grip tightened on her as if he was afraid to think about it. She got lucky, they both knew it. Paul buried his face in her hair, taking a deep calming breath of her orange scented hair. "You smell good." Maggie can't help but laugh. If she wasn't a werewolf that would have been a very strange thing to hear, but she did smell good. She smelt like oranges, cinnamon, and vanilla. Maggie almost felt bad for smelling like this. Before the fire, Laura had been Maggie's best friend and they used to talk about boys all the time. When they were younger they found out certain scents drove men crazy. It just so happen that they both decided to try it. Let's just say, Maggie knew what those three scents were doing to Paul. It probably didn't help that she was his imprint, which made her scent even more alluring to him.

"Why do you smell so good?" Paul groans as he sniffs her skin. Her shampoo/conditioner was orange scented, while her body lotion was vanilla scented, and her perfume was cinnamon scented.

Maggie steps out of Paul's arms as he breathed in her scent. She didn't want to torture him and she knew they were expected at the beach. "We need to get going. I rather not keep them waiting, god only knows what they'll say." She looks up at Paul to see him staring right at her. His eyes are darker than before and the way he was looking at her looked as if he could care less what his friends could be saying. He looked very much like the big bad wolf that her mother used to read to her when she was a kid. He looked as if he wanted to eat her right there, the idea becoming quite appealing in her mind. Her scent must have driven him wilder than she originally thought. "Paul." She says, hoping to snap him back to reality. She wasn't opposed to what he had in mind, but she also was nowhere near ready for that. Not only is she still healing, but she barely knew him still. Mate or not, he was not getting into her pants so fast.

"Sorry." Paul cleared his throat, his voice was much deeper than before. He shook his head as if to clear it before looking back at her. His eyes are still dark, but he seems to be more in control.

"Come on, I want to get to the beach." Paul nods. The two start making their way towards the beach again. They're quiet for a moment. It's a nice quiet, but Maggie can feel the tension in the air. She knew Paul was still struggling for control. "Maybe I should have taken a shower." She speaks up. Next time she is going easy on the scents. She had no idea they were going to prove to be so powerful to Paul, but obviously, they were indeed powerful. Paul was barely breathing as if afraid to inhale her scent any more than he already has.

Paul clears his throat again, looking totally distracted. "You smell nice." He could barely even speak. She felt really bad. The power guy was struggling to focus.

"I'm really sorry." Maggie apologizes. She feels as if she's just teasing him and it's not fair.

"I'm fine." No, you're not, Maggie thought. Anyone could see he was in pain. She took a few steps away from him, trying to help ease his suffering, but she could tell it wasn't helping. She would have to be far away for him to not smell her. She was like a shiny red beacon to him.

"I really should have taken a shower." He looks at her and she can see he's losing himself in her scent again.

"I-I just need a minute." He says, stepping a couple of feet. She stayed where she was, not wanting to upset him.

"Do you want me to go ahead of you?" She asks, wanting desperately to help him. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Y-Yeah, that might be for the best. I-I'll be there soon." She didn't really want to leave him, but she knew if she stayed then Paul wasn't going to be able to keep himself in control.

"Okay… I really am sorry."

"It's not your fault you smell so good." It kind of was, but to be fair she hadn't thought about how supernatural beings would take to her scent. Let this be a lesson for next time. She was going to go very easy on her scent from now on. Maybe she'll get rid of the lotion and perfume. Obviously, all three scents were just too much.

"I'll meet you at the beach."

"Do you remember where it was?"

"I can just find it. It's not hard to smell the water." Paul gave a stiff nod. The poor guy. Maggie felt really bad. She wanted to apologize again, but she knew Paul would just wave it off like he already has.

She quickly walked away from Paul, trying to get as far as possible from him. Her scent probably will be surrounding him even with her gone, but that was only more reason for her to leave.

It didn't take much longer until she reached the beach. The others were already set up and sitting on the blanket. Emily was sitting between Sam's legs with his arms around her, while Jared sat across from them with a smile on his face. They obviously were having a good time, which only made Maggie feel worst because poor Paul was still back there struggling to get himself focused and in control.

"Hey, what took you so long? Where's Paul?" Jared asks as he looks up and sees her walking over. Her cheeks turned red, causing Sam to raise an eyebrow.

"Uh, Paul, needed a minute…. He'll be here soon." Jared's smile grows, but Maggie ignored him. "Hey, Emily, you wouldn't happen to have some kind of perfume or anything?" Emily gave her a confused look as Jared made a sound as if he was choking from trying to keep his laughter in.

"No, why?" Maggie was feeling a lot more embarrassed. Sam gave her a look before sniffing, causing her face to turn red. Sam snorted, obviously realizing what was wrong.

"You should probably go in the water. There's no way anything else will mask your scent." Sam says, causing Emily to look at Sam with the same confused look. Jared at this point couldn't hold it in any longer. He burst into laughter, tears filling his eyes. Maggie glared at him.

"Shut up."

"You do smell really good." Maggie throws her flip flop at him, but he easily dodges it. "Poor Paul is probably dying back there with how strong you smell."

"Shut up."

"Oh." Maggie looked at Emily. Is there any way she could become more embarrassed? Emily was looking at her with a sudden realization. Maggie just wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. "Come on." Emily stood up and grabbed Maggie's hand. She leads Maggie away from the still laughing Jared and the smirking Sam. "How bad was it?" Emily whispered as they got towards the water.

"Bad." Maggie pulls her clothes off her as she got in the water with Emily.

"Poor guy."

"I feel really bad." Maggie whimpers.

"He'll be okay. Tilt your head back, I'm going to try to soak your hair." She nods and tilts her head back as Emily poured the cold water over Maggie's head. "So what do you smell like?"

"Oranges, Cinnamon, and vanilla." Emily stops what she's doing and looks at Maggie.

"You have more than one of those?" Maggie turned and face Emily.

"Wait you…"

"I think all girls look up that sort of thing once they get to their teen years. Who doesn't want to smell good for a guy." Maggie blushes.

"I didn't think about how it would affect the supernatural."

"Even one scent would probably be bad for them." Emily motions to her arms. "Hold them up. You need to go deeper in the water and I don't want your burns to get wet. Maggie held her breath before going under the water, Emily making sure that Maggie's arms didn't go under. She resurfaced and shook the water off her face and hair like a dog.

"Is that better?"

"Better ask the guys. For me, I can't smell any of it anymore, but my senses are a lot weaker." Maggie couldn't smell it either, but you can't really smell your own scent.

"Do you think Paul's mad?"

"Trust me, sweety, right now he's anything, but mad." Maggie blushes as they get out of the water.

"How long do you think he'll be?"

"However long it takes him to…." Emily doesn't finish her sentence, but Maggie knew what Emily was going to say. Maggie's face turns even redder as she imaged poor Paul in the woods trying to ease some of that sexual tension. "Don't think about it." Emily whispers. "Even if you don't have your scent on you anymore smelling that sure will mess Paul up." Maggie nods and focuses on gathering her clothes and walking back towards the guy.

"Better." Sam nods as he hands a towel to Maggie.

"So it's gone?"

"Uh, the vanilla is still kind of there, but everything else is practically gone." She didn't go all the way in, so she's sure the vanilla stayed because of that.

"Poor girl." Emily says as she rubs Maggie's back.

"Poor Paul. He's going to bust a nut before the end of the week." Jared says, causing Maggie only to feel worst.

"Jared, stop, you're making her feel guilty." Emily snaps as she toweled off.

"Hey, I'm just saying. It's hard enough for him to focus without her smelling delicious." Maggie glared at him. "Oh look here he comes." He grins, causing Maggie's head to snap towards the direction Jared was looking. She saw Paul starting over. His eyes were clearer and he looked better, but she can only hope Sam was right and her scent was gone. "Hey, Pauly, you feel better?" The look Paul gave Jared was a look that killed.

"Jared shut up." Sam says as Paul stops beside Maggie.

"Maybe you shouldn't stand to close to her, Paul, you wouldn't want to explode right there." Maggie noticed Paul was shaking and he looked extremely pissed off at that moment.

"I'm really really sorry." Maggie whispers, causing Paul to look at her. He's not shaking anymore and the anger's gone from his eyes.

"I told you already, it's not you're fault." Jared snorted. He was starting to piss Maggie off. As if she didn't feel bad enough, but Jared has to keep teasing Paul about it and making her feel even more guilty.

She turns to Jared, her eyes flashing yellow. "Will you shut the hell up." She growls. She can feel her anger rising and her control slipping. She felt the change. Her nails growing and digging into her skin, her teeth becoming sharp and cutting her tongue, her ears becoming pointed, and her face contort.

"Shit." But just like that she is back to normal. Paul has his arms wrapped around her, her back to his chest, and his head resting on top of hers.

"Ignore him." Paul whispers, his voice soothing away all the anger. He took a sniff of her and huffs. "You still smell good." Jared burst into laughter again, even Emily was struggling to keep her giggles hidden. Maggie pouts as the group laughs at her. The pout didn't last long as she felt Paul kiss her temple. She closes her eyes and melts in his arms. He's so gentle with her. Someone his size should not be so gentle. Paul's humming that tune again and suddenly Maggie felt exhausted. She could fall asleep right here in his arms.

"Maggie." Her eyes popped open and she looks at Emily. "Come sit." Maggie moves to go to Emily or tries to. Paul won't let go of her.

"Paul." Maggie says as she looks up at him.

"Stop hogging her Paul." Emily says, causing Maggie to laugh.

"Relax, I'm not even going to be three feet away." Paul huffs but lets her go. She moves and takes a seat beside Emily, who now was sitting next to Sam. Paul moves and sits between Jared and Sam, his eyes staying on Maggie.

"Don't you guys have something you could do?" Emily asks. "Can't really talk to Maggie if you all are listening."

"What you got something you don't want us to hear?" Jared grin.

"Shoo, go." Emily waves him away, causing Sam to chuckle. He gives her a quick kiss before standing up.

"Come on, let's leave them alone." Sam glances down at Paul and grins. "And I think you could use some time away from her." Paul glares at Sam's suggestive tone.

"Shut up." He grumbles but accepts Sam's hand nonetheless. The boys walked off further down the beach, leaving Maggie with Emily.

"You've grown pretty close to Paul already."

"He's my mate and I'm his imprint." Maggie shrugs as she takes out a big bag of grapes from the basket.

"You sure like grapes." Emily grins.

"So?" Emily giggles.

"You know grapes are good for your sex drive?" Maggie almost chokes.

"What?" She squeaks, a bit too loudly because the guys glance back at them.

"Shh." Emily laughs.

"What do you mean grapes are good for your sex drive?" Maggie whisper-shouts.

"I mean just that. It boasts testosterone and estrogen." Maggie glances at the grapes then at Paul and then back at the grapes as if weighing the pros and cons. She takes a full minute to decide before popping another grape in her mouth. Emily laughs and steals a grape with a wink.

"You know most people wouldn't find it so easy to accept being someone's soul mate." Emily tells her, returning to her point.

"It's different for you. You're human. But for us, or rather me in specific, I grew up knowing all about mates and Moonstruck."

"Moonstruck?"

"Yeah, it's basically the werewolf version of imprinting."

"Oh." Maggie hums in answer.

"My parents were mate and I spent most my life wanting what they had. They were so happy and they loved each other a lot. When you're born into this life Moonstruck and mates just seem normal. It's like your first boyfriend for humans. The idea is just so romantic and exciting."

"Has it lived up to your fantasy?" Maggie frowns as she glances at Paul. The boys have started up a game, kicking a ball and trying to keep it from Paul. She smiles as she watches them play.

"I accept it because I want it. I want what my parents have, so accepting Paul is easy. And I know he accepts it because he sees what you and Sam have and he probably wants what you guys have."

"We weren't always this…. Perfect." Maggie nods.

"No relationship ever starts out perfect. Maggie sighs and falls back, laying down on the blanket and staring up at the clear skies. "Right now my biggest fear is losing him." Emily moves and lays down beside Maggie.

"You won't lose him. Sam takes care of his pack. He's a good alpha. He won't let anything happen to any of his brothers." Maggie smiles.

"I hope so. I don't think I could handle losing him. I know we just met, but… he's my mate. I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with him. The idea of being apart is just terrifying." Emily places her hand on Maggie's unburned arm, the two falling into a peaceful silence. Maggie wanted Paul to be the one comforting her. As if on cue she heard Paul making his way over. She turns her head and smiles as she sees him moving towards her.

"You okay?" He must have felt her silent plea.

"Yeah." She sits up as Paul takes a seat on the blanket.

"Come here." She didn't waste a second before climbing into Paul's lap. He pulls her close to him and wraps his arms around her. "Hey, Emily, do you have any ice?" Emily sits up and looks at Paul confused. "For Maggie's hands." Paul pushes Maggie's still dripping wet hair off her shoulder. Leaning down, he kisses it gently, looking at Emily expectingly.

"I might have some, hold on." Maggie sighs and moves her head more of the way, a silent hint for Paul. Once again he takes the hint and places soft kisses up and down Maggie's neck. He's so gentle and so sweet. Maggie could stay here forever in his arms. "Here's some." Paul lifts his head, causing Maggie to whimper.

"Shh, I'm right here." Paul whispers, holding tighter in his arms before reaching over and taking the bag from Emily's one hand and opening it up. Emily pours the handful of ice into the bag and Paul seals the bag up and places it on Maggie's right hand. She sighs in content as the cold ice touches her burning hand.

"Here's another bag." Paul takes the other bag, which Emily already filled up, and he places it on Maggie's other hand.

"Is that better, sweetheart?" Maggie nods, laying her head against his shoulder. "Can I have one more for her arm?"

"Sure." Paul's fingers run up and down Maggie's spine, his hot fingers burn a trail against her cool skin. It was born soothing and exciting. Paul's fingers pause as he smells her arousal. He looks down at her, a faint blush staining her cheeks. Just him touching her is enough for her to go insane. "Paul. Paul." Paul's head shot up as Emily held the bag out. "Here."

"Sorry." He takes the bag and presses it against Maggie's arm. Maggie can feel Emily's eyes on them, but Maggie's sole attention is on Paul. She can feel him underneath her, growing harder and harder from her arousal, which is only increasing the more turned on Paul gets. It's a deadly circle. Paul lifts his eyes, finding her own. He leans down and kisses her, the kiss short, but steamy. It left her wanting more. She suddenly couldn't remember why having sex with Paul so soon was a bad thing.

"Hello, earth to Paul? Lahote!" Paul's head shot up and Maggie turned to see Jared waving his hand in front of Paul's face. "Did you even hear a word I said?"

"What?" Paul growls out. Maggie wanted to laugh. All Paul wanted was to focus on his imprint and poor Jared was unknowingly messing that up.

"Wow, down dog." Jared says, holding his hands up. "I just wanted to know if you wanted a soda. But nevermind. Jeez, what did you do to him this time?" Jared asks Maggie as he pops his soda can open. Paul cleared his throat.

"I'm going to go for a walk." He grumbled, moving Maggie off his lap and standing up. Jared raised an eyebrow as Paul practically ran off.

"No, seriously, what did you do?" Jared looks at Maggie, who's cheeks are bright red and eyes are almost black. Jared grins. "Naughty girl."

"Jared!" Emily and Sam snap at the same time. Maggie groans and falls back onto the blanket. She certainly did not plan for her day to go like this.


	5. Paul is Mine

AN: Another long chapter. Again I just couldn't bring myself to break it up into two parts. This chapter contains sex, bad language, violence, and a bit of silly humor... you've been warned.

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By nightfall, Maggie could barely look at Paul and Paul practically refused to go anywhere near Maggie. Between her scent, her arousal, and Jared's teasing Paul was beyond excited. Maggie's mood had already turned sour. She got tired of Jared's teasing hours ago and she has snapped more than once at him. She was just about to scratch Jared's eyes out when Sam declared it time to call it day and head back to his place. This time no one walked. The ride to Emily's was quick and silent. Emily and Sam rode in the truck, while Jared, Paul, and Maggie rode in the back. Jared didn't tease them anymore, probably realizing how close to death he was, and Paul still refused to look at Maggie. She was feeling awful. She didn't mean to upset Paul or tease him. It seems like one bad thing after another. It started out with her scent and ended with him not even looking at her. She wanted to cry, but she refuses to cry in front of Jared. She didn't need him finding another thing to tease her about.

When they got to Emily's, Paul just hopped out the truck, gathered up their things and headed inside before Maggie could even stand up. "Jared, go home and get some rest, you're on this morning's patrol." Jared nods, quite relieved to not have to stay. Sam holds out his hand and helps Maggie down.

"He hates me." Sam sighs and brushes her hair behind her ear.

"He doesn't hate you, Mags, he's just wound up. Give him some space and once he's back in control then he'll be right beside you again." Maggie wants to believe him, but she couldn't. Paul barely even said a word to her since the innocent on the beach. "Maggie-"

"It's fine. I think I'm going to shower. Get this salt water out of my hair." She mumbles before starting up the steps. She can hear Sam talking to Emily before she walked into the house. She looked around and saw Paul nowhere in sight. It only made her feel even more pain. She looked down at the ground and started for the stairs, but when she got in the living room, where the stairs are located, she sees Paul sitting on the couch. He turns and his eyes catch hers.

"Maggie, what's wrong?" Paul asks, practically jumping off the couch. It isn't until she tastes the salty tears that she realizes she's crying. "I'm going to kill Jared." Paul growls, turning to go outside, but hearing Maggie sniffle stops him. "Maggie, don't cry."

"I'm sorry I made you mad." Paul freezes as he looks at Maggie.

"What? Honey, I'm not mad at you." Paul whispers, turning to her and wiping her tears away.

"You barely even looked at me." Paul sighs and rests his forehead against hers.

"That's because I didn't want to upset you."

"What? That makes no sense." Paul closes his eyes as he pulls Maggie into his arms.

"I can't control myself around you, Maggie. I don't want to go anything you don't want. I don't want to hurt you."

"So you think ignoring me is better?"

"Maggie." Paul sighs and pulls back in order to look down at her. "Do you have any idea how much I wanted to just grab you and have you right there in front of everybody?" Maggie's cheeks flame up as she hears the need and hunger in Paul's voice. "I'm not trying to be an asshole." So instead he chooses to be a gentleman. Maggie huffs.

"I didn't want you to be a gentleman." She grumbles. What she wanted was for him to throw caution to the wind and just take what is his. She wanted him to lose control and let his animal out.

She looks up when she feels Paul freeze. His eyes are dilated and a rare hunger fills his eyes. "Paul?" She whispers. Suddenly his lips are on hers. The kiss is not the same gentle loving kiss like the ones before. This one is rough and hungry. Lips smashing lips, teeth hitting teeth, tongue attacking tongue. Paul pushes up against the stair's railing, pushing his body against hers. If this is what she wants then he will give her it. His hands are just about to rip her shirt off her when something flies and nearly hits them both in the head. Paul spins around as Maggie eyes snap towards a glaring Sam.

"You are not having sex in my house. Out. Now. You have your own place." Sam snaps. Paul glares at Sam before grabbing Maggie's arm, thankfully the unburned one, and practically drags her out of the house, past a giggling Emily.

Once outside Paul pulls his shirt off. "Uh, Paul, I don't think doing it outside his house is quite what he meant about not doing it inside his house."

"We're not having sex here." Paul says, his voice deep and husky. "It's faster if I shift." She raises an eyebrow as Paul kicks his shoes off. He takes a good four feet away from her before undoing his shorts. She turns around to give him privacy to do whatever he's about to do, causing him to snort. "It isn't like you're not going to see me naked in a couple of minutes." Maggie's eyes widen at the sure arrogance of his voice.

"Oh, you're so sure…" Her words stop dead. She turns to find him completely naked. "Oh god." She chokes out. She is by no means a virgin, but she has never, not once in her life, seen a man that big. If she thought his body was huge it was nothing compared to what his cock was like. It was standing up, fully erect, and close to ten inches long and very very big around. He had dark curly hair that ran wild and his balls were throbbing and large. Heat and moisture pooled between Maggie's legs as she stared at him. She suddenly didn't care if they're outside Sam's house, she was willing to take him right then and there.

But Paul didn't give her a chance to take a step before he shifted. He turned into his wolf. A beautiful dark gray wolf with a white face, neck, and underbelly. "Wow, you're beautiful." She whispers, running her fingers over his thick warm fur. "You know, I'm not much into beastilatity." Paul growls, his eyes giving her a look, causing her to laugh. "Relax, I'm just kidding." She smiles, running her fingers over his big wet nose. She always loved dog's noses. She had a German shepherd before and she used to love kissing and playing with its nose. Paul nudges her, motioning her to his back. "You're not serious?" She says as she realizes his intention. She looks at him as if he had grown to heads, not like turning into a wolf was surprising at all. Paul nudges her harder. "I am not climbing onto you." Paul nips her thigh. "Quit it." He does it again and nudges her once more. "Okay, fine." She snaps before looking at his back. He is a big wolf. About three times the size of a regular wolf, almost the size of a miniature horse. Paul licks her cheek, causing her to smile, it's his way of calming her. "Fine, but you better not try anything." She climbs onto his back, no easy task for a girl as small as her. Paul shakes his body, causing Maggie to gasp and grip onto his fur. He pauses and shakes again, causing her grip to tighten. He nods his head, his way of telling her that is what he wants, so she grips tighter.

With one last glance at her, he takes off running. She has to grip really hard to stay on, but once she got a hold she relaxes. A laugh escapes her as she watches the trees go by in a blur. This was incredible. He is so fast. The wind blows her hair back as her laughter carries through the woods. She closes her eyes, giving into the wonderful sensation. Is this what he feels like when he runs wild in the woods. Sadly it's over before she can really enjoy it. She pouts as she slides off. "That was quick." Paul moves forward. "Where are you going?" She goes to follow, but Paul turns and growls. "Oh okay." She frowns as she stops in her tracks. Paul didn't want her to follow. She tries not to look hurt, but he must have noticed. He turned back to her and gives her another lick on the cheek before moving away from her. He shifts back to human form, once again naked.

"I can't shift close to you. I risk hurting you if I do." Paul tells her once he is fully shifted. Maggie thinks about Emily's scars, it makes sense. She got to close to Sam and she got caught in the crosshair. "Come on." Paul holds out a hand. Seeing him naked got her back in the mood. The ride was fun, but this one was going to be even better. She smiles and practically ran to him as she took his hand. "My place is only a little ways." He tells her as he walks through the woods. As the woods cleared up a bit Maggie saw his house. It looked much like Emily's, but his place only had one story unlike Emily's and he had a large back deck, but that wasn't what Maggie was focused on.

A beat up car sat in the driveway, a pretty blonde leaning against it. "Shit." Paul curses.

"Someone, you know?" Maggie asks, not able to hold back the anger in her tone. Paul glances at her and then at the blonde.

"It's not what you think." He tries to reassure.

"She's pretty."

"She's not you." Maggie glances at him. "You're my imprint, Maggie, not her."

"Did you sleep with her? Is that why she's here? Is she your girlfriend?"

"No." Paul says a bit louder than intended.

"Paul?" Maggie glares as he hears her sweet high voice.

"Maggie, I promise you, I promise you, you are the only girl in my life." Paul says, his tone a bit desperate as if afraid she'll leave him.

"Then who's she?"

"Some girl from before I phased." Maggie raises an eyebrow. "Look, I was a different person before I phased. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I was an asshole back then who treated people like shit, but after I phased I changed. Look I slept with her, okay, I won't lie to you, but after Sam imprinted on Emily and I phased I broke things off. I don't want some blonde whore, Maggie. I want you. I want my imprint." Maggie sighs and glances at the blonde.

"Paul, are you out there?" The girl calls sweetly.

"Then why is she here?"

"She won't take no for an answer." Maggie glances at Paul and then at the girl. Oh, Maggie will make the girl understand. She doesn't give Paul another glance before storming out of the woods. "Shit."

"What are you doing here?" Maggie asks, her voice as cold as ice.

"Who are you?" The girl asks, her eyes narrowing down. "Paul." Maggie turns and sees Paul dressed in a pair of shorts, he must keep some hidden in the woods for emergencies.

Maggie steps in front of the girl, blocking her view of Paul's cut abs and strong arms. Only Maggie gets to look at that body. "I asked you a question." Maggie snarls. "What are you doing here?"

"Maggie, baby." Paul tries to say, but Maggie silences him with a warning glare. This was her move. She is his imprint and he's her mate, she has to mark her territory.

"What he's sleeping with you?" The girl sneers, eyeing Maggie over as if she is some child. Her eyes land on Maggie's burns. Maggie had unwrapped them on the ride to Emily's and now the bright charred flesh was out like a beacon for the girl to see. The girl smirks. "There's no way Paul is sleeping with you. You're all scarred and ugly." Oh, she picked the worst thing to insult Maggie with.

"Maggie, hon-" Paul tries to grab Maggie, but he's not fast enough. Maggie grabs the pathetic blonde and slams her head against her stupid rusty car.

"Let's get one thing straight, sweetheart." Maggie growls. "Paul is mine. He is fucking me. He will not, never in a million years, fuck your used and abused pussy." Maggie snarls.

"He already did." The blonde snarls back, causing Maggie to hit the girl's head again on the car.

"I'm not down talking." Paul watches wide eyes as his imprint goes on full bitch mode. "You will not come within a mile of Paul. You will not come to his house. You will not call him. Paul is mine and nobody, especially some trashy blonde, is going to take him from him."

"I'm pregnant." Paul froze, eyes wide as Maggie chuckled.

"No, you're not." She knew without a doubt that the girl was no pregnant. Her mom had been pregnant before the fire, pregnant woman have a distinct smell, like roses. Not only does this girl not smell like that, but there is only one heartbeat coming from her. There is no baby and the fact that this girl would say something like that to Maggie's mate only pissed her off more. "You are fucken pathetic. Do you think you mean anything to him? You are just some cheap whore that spread your legs for him."

"Yeah, and what does that make you." She snaps. Maggie smirks.

"The difference between you and I is that I'm not a whore and he loves me. Why else would he ditch you and all the others? Huh? Have you seen him with any girl these past weeks?" The girl looks at Paul and then Maggie. Maggie knew for a fact that Paul hasn't fucked anyone since he phased. He told her that himself and she know that men lie, but she also heard the desperate plea for her trust and she heard his heartbeat, no blip. Paul doesn't even know about the lie detection that her kind has mastered. Plus, the girl's expression confirms the truth that Maggie already knows. "How about you leave before I give you a concussion and you lose even more of your dignity." Maggie pushes the girl against the car before stepping back. Tears ran down the girl's face as Maggie glared down at her. She looks towards Paul, as if hoping he would jump in and save her, but her hopes were crushed as Paul wraps his arms around Maggie, holding her in his arms. The girl breaks down into sobs, causing Maggie to roll her eyes. The girl was disgusting. Crying over a guy, expecting him to give a shit about her. If you want to prance around and spread your legs for any willing guy, expect to lose your respect and virtue in the eyes of those around you. Maggie eyes narrow on the guy and she takes a step forward, causing the girl to whimper. "Leave." The girl scrambled into her car, terrified of Maggie as any sane person should be. Maggie snorts as she watches the girl race out of the driveway like a bat out of hell. "Idiot." Maggie says. "You don't piss a Hale off."

"Fuck." Maggie turns and looks at Paul, who's staring at her with wide eyes.

"If you expect me to apologize-"

"You're so fucken hot." Maggie blushes, not expecting Paul to say that.

"Yeah, well…." What is she supposed to say to that? She gives a squeak as Paul sweeps her up into his arms. "Paul."

"Shut up." She raises an eyebrow at him. Did he just tell her to shut up? Before she can snap at him, his lips are on hers and all anger is gone. She kisses him back with a hungry and still angry energy. She gasps as Paul drops her onto his bed. "I'm not going to be gentle." He tells her.

"Good." She sits up and tries to pull her shirt off, but a whimper escapes her. Paul's breath stops as he looks at her.

"Can we do this?" He whispers. "You're still not healed, Maggie. I don't-"

"I'm fine, I just can't use my hands." He stares at her for a moment, still unsure. "Paul, we can have sex, now come on, get those damn shorts off." Paul chuckles and moves, helping her get her shirt off. "Those aren't your shorts."

"I know what I said, but let's make a compromise." She raises an eyebrow. "We'll have sex, but it's going to be gentle."

"Paul, I'm fi-"

"You're still healing, Maggie, I don't want to hurt you. Next time I'll give you everything you want." She pouts. She wants him to lose control and let his animal out, but she knows he's right. Rough sex could be dangerous. "I promise." She huffs and falls back on the bed, causing Paul to laugh. "This still will be good." She waves her hand, motioning for him to get on with it. "Don't look so excited." She can't help but smile as she looks over at him. He works his pants off, causing her to moan as his cock springs up. She'll defiantly enjoy this, just not as much as she could if she was completely healed. "I'm going to make you feel good, baby." He whispers in her ear as he pulls her shorts off her.

"Paul." She whines as he slowly, deadly slow, pulls her bikini bottoms off her.

"Shh, baby, patience." He whispers, his fingers moving back up her legs.

"Fuck patience. Just fuck me, Paul." He chuckled, his breath fanning her ear.

"So demanding."

"I'll show you- oh." She moans as his finger pushes into her.

"A little foreplay never hurt anyone." He moves his finger in and out at an easy pace.

"Erg, Paul." She growls. Paul chuckles and slipped in a second finger.

"You're so goddamn wet." He sighs, burying his face in her neck. "Your scents not as strong." He whines.

"Yeah, I washed it off." She points out before groaning as he adds a third finger.

"When your hands heal I want your scent back so I can fuck you against every goddamn surface in this house." His words were what brought her to orgasm.

"Paul."

"That's it baby." His fingers picked up speed, almost at a blinding pace.

"Paul!" She throws her head back as his fingers draw her orgasm out, causing her body to shake. She can barely breathe as he finally pulls his fingers out and her orgasm comes to an end. Her body is still trembling.

"I want to taste you."

"Oh, god." She chokes out as Paul moves down and begins eating her pussy out. "Paul, I-I can't." She cries.

"Yes, you can baby." He mumbles before taking her still throbbing clit into his mouth.

"Paul." She cries as he sucks the small nub. "Oh god." Her nails ripped into Paul's precious silk sheets as another orgasm rips through her. This one is even stronger, she sobs as she cums, Paul laps up her juices as her body shakes and arches off the bed. Her heart is pounding in her chest and each breath feels like a piece of glass stabbing into her chest. Paul sits back, licking his lips clean.

"You even taste like oranges." She blushes, her eyes feeling heavy. She can't have another orgasm. She is a werewolf and her energy is higher than others, but those orgasms were powerful and he hasn't even gotten inside her yet. "Hey, don't go falling asleep on me." Paul says as he rubs his thumb against her cheek.

"I… I can't…" She's so tired. Paul moves and kisses her.

"Just take deep breaths." He whispers. Her eyes close, she can't stay awake. She feels really bad. She knows Paul is aching, but it's his own fault. She told him she couldn't cum again and what does he do? He forces another orgasm out of her. There's no way she can force a third. "Maggie." She is falling asleep. She can feel sleep calling her name. "Mags." She almost growls as Paul pulls her back to reality.

"I'm tired." She whines.

"And I'm horny." She glares.

"Oh, so you're more important." She knew she was just being cranky. She gets like that when she's tired.

"I'm sorry." Paul frowns. "I didn't mean to get you mad." Oh great, now she feels guilty. "Sleep. You're still healing. I shouldn't push you too hard." He's trying to be sweet, but what he didn't know was how stubborn Hales are. They don't like being told they can't do something. There's no way in hell she's going to sleep now. She growls and pushes him back onto his back. "Maggie?"

"I don't need more healing. I can fuck you just fine." She snarls, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? You seem a bit shaky. Maybe you should take it easy." She glares at his condescending tone.

"Fuck you."

"Then do it."

"Fine." Maggie climbs up onto Paul, straddling him. She takes him in her hand, all sense of pain gone from her mind. She leads him to her entrance before sliding down on him.

"Fuck." Paul gasps as her tight wet walls clamp down on him.

"Maybe you're the one that needs rest." Maggie pants as she lifts back up. His hand move to her waist and push her back down. They both groan at the friction. "Let me go. I can do this myself." Paul chuckles, only to be cut off as she starts to ride him. The speed is fast and rough, she grinds her hips into him. He thrusts his hips up in time with her movements. The creaks as she picks up her pace. Their breathy pants fill the room, making it ten times hotter. Sweat soaks their skin as their skin slaps against each other. His nails dig into her hips as her hands grip the headboard, the sound of cracking wood sounds, but neither notice as Maggie's walls clamp tighter down on Paul.

"Fuck, Maggie." He curses as he thrusts his hips up into her more. She gives a breathy moan as her hips pick up speed. The headboard bangs against the wall as the bed creaks more. Maggie's grip tightens as the wood cracks.

"Paul!" She screams his name, throwing her head back, as she is hit full blast with her orgasm. She sees black spots as she rides out her orgasm.

"Maggie." Paul grunts, burying himself inside her as he releases his own seed. Their body spasm and shake. Maggie gasps as a crash sounds and the bed shifts to the left and falls to the ground with a thud. Paul burst into laughter as Maggie struggles to keep her own laughter at bay. They broke Paul's bed. She looks up at the headboard to see it is beyond repair, chunks of wood broke off and deep groves splintered throughout it.

"I think you're bed is broken." She says, trying not to smile. She climbs off him as he sits up.

"Uh, yeah, I would say so." He grins. The right side legs broke off, causing the bed to stand all the weight on the left, which of course made the left break off. The frame underneath also broke in half, causing them to slump in the middle.

"Um…" She looks around to see the bed is a goner. "Sorry." Paul chuckles and pulls her into his arms.

"Don't apologize for that." Their hearts are still pounding in their chests, but their breathing has even out.

"Still… you're bed's kind of fucked." Paul snorts, burying his face into her shoulder.

"I'm still moving in. Just another thing to add to my list, not a big deal." She turns and looks at him. He smiles up at her. "Although, maybe I'll go for a more heavy duty bed this time around." She can't help it, she bursts into a fit of giggles, which only makes Paul laugh. It's so ridiculous, but also so damn funny.

"We defiantly should not tell Jared about this." Maggie says once their laughter has subsided.

"That won't be easy. Can't really block my mind when running with the pack." Maggie almost forgot that the pack shared their thoughts in wolf form.

"Shit…."

"I have a couch?" Maggie glances over at him. "You want to break that next?" Maggie giggles.

"Oh god, we're going to ruin your house." Paul laughs before climbing out of the bed or trying to. It's not easy with the bed broken into many pieces. Maggie giggled as Paul stumbles.

"Yeah, the bed is defiantly on top of my list." He takes Maggie's hand and pulls her out of bed.

"It'll defiantly make our first time memorable." He smiles down at her.

"You don't seem too tired anymore."

"How can you be after that?" She laughs, motioning to the bed. Neither can stop smiling. Paul almost wants the guys to know. It's just too funny. Maggie looks up at Paul, both their faces bright with huge grins. Despite everything, Maggie has never been happier, broken bed regardless.


	6. I'm a Filthy Cougar

Maggie was practically skipping to Sam's house with Paul. She knew they stank of sex and sweat, but Sam only had himself to blame for that. Maggie and Paul were in the middle of sex on the counters when he called and told them to come over, so if he didn't like how they smelt then that was his own damn fault. "You're happy." Paul points out as Maggie twirled around, yes twirled, and faced Paul with a big grin.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She moves towards him and wraps her arms around his neck, she has to stand on his feet in order to not have to strain her neck. "I got a hot wonderful boyfriend, who by the way is amazing at sex." Paul chuckles before leaning down and kisses her. "Mm, and I have some good friends, despite them interrupting said amazing sex with said amazing boyfriend." Paul nods with a smile as he leans down, kissing her neck. It was as if flood gates were open after their first time together. Neither could keep their hands off each other. "Paul, Sam's waiting on us."

"Mm." Paul hums in agreement, but despite his agreement, his hands move towards her ass, squeezing the soft flesh, causing her to squeak. Her ass was a sensitive area for her. Everyone had places that were sexual hot spots and her ass was one. "You like that?" He asks, his voice deep and earthy in her voice. She bites her lip as he rubs and squeezes her ass. "You like me touching your ass." She bites her lip to keep from moaning. They weren't far from Sam's house and Sam's hearing was very good.

"Paul we don't have time."

"We always have time." She was about to ask him what he had in mind before he knelt down. Her eyes widen as he pulls her shorts and bikini bottoms off her.

"Paul we can't- Oh god." She chokes out as he begins to eat her out. How can she say no when his tongue his swirling around inside her like that. His tongue was talented. It reached places that she didn't know she had and it sent electricity up her with every movement and lick. "Paul, I-I can't-" She pushes his face further in as she cums. "Paul." She gasps as her body quivered and shook.

"Mm." Paul moans as he licks his lips. He got off it as much as her. "Now we can go." He says as he stands up. Maggie's legs were shaking and she was pretty sure she couldn't move. Paul helps her get herself situated again before sweeping her right off her feet. She doesn't bother snapping at him, she hated being manhandled, she was too tired to argue. She rests her head on his shoulder and drifted right to sleep.

Paul smiles down at her as he carried her. She was absolutely beautiful and she was the most amazing person that Paul has ever met. School was starting tomorrow, so he could only figure the talk Sam wanted to have was about that. School was going to be crazy. Sam would take the day patrol, during the school year they needed day patrol, and Jared and Paul would switch out for the night/early morning patrols. Sam already talked to them about this before, but now he was going to get the schedule up probably.

As they neared Sam's place, Paul shook Maggie awake. "Hey, sweetheart, we're here." Maggie opens her eyes, gives a big yawn, before letting Paul put her back onto the ground.

"Great, let's get this over with. I'm tired." Paul smiles and takes her hand in his before heading up the stairs. As they walked in Jared was already cramming his face with breakfast. Paul was starving too. They hadn't even bothered with dinner last night. They were too busy devouring each other.

"Hey, you guys hungry?" Emily asks as she piles more food onto the counters. Jared looked up with bacon hanging out of his mouth.

"You guys stink." He says around his food.

"Jared, don't talk with your mouth full." Emily orders.

"What did you want to talk about?" Paul asks as he takes a seat, purposely beside Jared.

"Ew, get away from me." Jared says. "I'm seriously you guys smell." Sam made a face, obviously smelling them.

"Seriously, go shower."

"Hey, you're the one who told us to get over here right away." Maggie says as she takes a seat on Paul's lap, which only it worst for Jared because now he got double the stink.

"Shower, now." Sam orders. "We'll talk after you're both showered." Maggie rolls her eyes and gets up, Paul standing to follow. "Seperately." Sam stresses the word, causing Paul to huff and sit down. Maggie bites her lip to keep from laughing before heading up the stairs. Maggie takes a quick shower, her hair smelling strongly of oranges and her body smelling strongly of vanilla. She didn't put the cinnamon on this time, but her body soap was also vanilla, so it was hard not to smell like vanilla and oranges. She didn't put the lotion on though, so the vanilla was a bit milder.

She changes into a pair of jeans, a v-neck, and her favorite leather jacket. She slips on her heavy boots and headed downstairs. Paul was taking a shower downstairs already when she walked in.

"Now you smell too good." Jared complained.

"You're never happy." Maggie huffs as she sits on the side of Sam that Emily wasn't going to sit.

"You hungry?"

"Starving." She smiles at Emily, causing her to laugh and place a big plate in front of her, that Maggie might actually finish. "So, what's this meeting about anyways?" Maggie asks.

"Jared and Paul are going back to school tomorrow, so we need to work out a new schedule."

"School?" Maggie questions, her mouth full.

"Maggie." Emily scolded, causing Maggie to grin.

"Yeah, we're sophomores this year. Are you a senior?" Maggie gives Jared a confused look.

"I don't go to college." Now Jared looks confused.

"I'm talking about high school." Maggie's eyes widen comically.

"High school?! How old are you two?" Sam shifts in his seat, causing Maggie's eyes to snap over to him. "Samuel?" Sam flinches at the full name. He had purposely left their ages out. He didn't want to be the one to tell her that she was having sex with a fifteen-year-old. "Samuel." She growls.

"We're fifteen. What's the big deal?" Jared asks. Maggie was twenty years old, she graduated two years ago. That meant she was five years older than Paul and to make matters worst he was underage, of course only by a year, but still. Maggie suddenly felt like a dirty cougar. "Uh? Seriously, what's the problem?" Jared asks as Maggie slowly sank in her chair.

"I was going to tell you." Sam mumbles as he sips his coffee. Maggie gave him a dark glare. "I was. I just…"

"Just what?" She snaps. "Wanted to wait until after we had sex?" Sam's face turns red as she spat that out at him.

"Wait… how old are you?" Jared asks, suddenly realizing what the issue is. If possible, Maggie sunk even further in her seat. She could get into serious trouble for this. Sure he's only a year younger than concent, but she couldn't very well say 'sorry, I didn't know, but it's only a year off'.

"Relax. The reservation is a bit more relaxed, plus you're his imprint, it changes things." She just glared at him even stronger.

"Uh… Is something wrong?" All eyes shot to Paul, who was still a bit wet from his shower and in only shorts. For a second Maggie wants to jump him, before remembering that he's only fifteen and then remembering that she is a filthy cougar. Sam cleared his throat and looks at Paul.

"I think you two need to, uh…" Sam looks at Maggie for help, but she was not helping him with this. He should have told them before they did anything. "Look, you two need to stop seeing each other." Paul's eyes widen.

"What?"

"At least for six months."

"What the hell, Sam." Of course, Paul was made, Maggie knew he would be, but she couldn't be with him. Not when he's only fifteen. If anyone found out…

"Maggie's twenty years old, Paul, you're fifteen. Imprint or not, it's against the law for you two to…" Maggie sinks even further in her seat.

"Wait you're twenty years old?!" Jared exclaims. She felt sick. Of course, she still wanted Paul and he was still her mate, but she could get into serious trouble for this. She could feel Paul staring at her, but she didn't have the heart to lift her eyes.

"That's bullshit. Who cares if I'm fifteen? You don't honestly regret everything just because I'm fifteen?" That last question was directed to her. She lifts her eyes and looked up at him.

"Of course not, but I rather not get thrown behind bars because I had sex with an underage guy." She tells him.

"She's my imprint." Paul points out.

"And I get that, but the law clearly states that you two together is a crime." Sam points out. Maggie could tell Paul was getting angry. He was starting to shake.

"Can't the council make an exception?"

"We have to keep what we are a secret. If they give you special treatment people are going to ask questions."

"So we just don't tell anyone how old she is. She doesn't look like she's twenty. We say she's eighteen and everything's fine."

"Paul." Sam sighs. "We can't lie like that." Maggie could see Paul was on the verge of snapping. She moves towards Paul, not wanting Emily's house to become a wreck.

"Paul, calm down." She whispers, placing her hands on either side of his face and forcing him to look at her. He looks at her, his breathing heavy. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but apparently, some stupid law was preventing him from having her. It wasn't fair. She smelt so good and she was so amazing and some law was telling him that he couldn't be with her.

"It's only for six months. Your birthday is in February." Sam points out, but that was still so far away. It was only August.

"I'm sure you can wait that long." Maggie whispers, running her thumb across his cheek. Paul closes his eyes at the soft touch. How could he wait that long when Maggie was here. She was his. He wanted her. He… He loved her. He opens his eyes and looks at her. He couldn't kiss her, touch her. She was not allowed. It wasn't fair. He had lost a lot in his life. His mom, his dad, his old friends, and now Sam was telling him he couldn't have Maggie? "Paul, we can wait until then." He didn't want to wait. He wanted her. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her, love her, hold her. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't he have a break? Why did the universe have to flip him off by giving him an imprint that he couldn't be with. Sure he becomes everything his imprints needs but his imprint isn't a kid. What she needs is him. She needs his love, his touch, his kisses. She doesn't need a friend, she has Jared and Emily, she doesn't need a brother, she has Sam. What she needs is a lover and here was Sam telling him that Paul couldn't be that for her. It wasn't fair.

Sam must have seen the heartbroken look on Paul's face because he stood up and interrupted the moment Maggie and Paul were having. "Look, I'll talk to the elders, but…." But he couldn't make any promises. Paul knew that already, he just hated it. He hated this. He didn't want to be forced away from her.

"I don't see what the big deal is. Why can't they just have a secret relationship? Fuck behind closed doors and tell everyone that asked that they're just friends." Of course, if Maggie and Paul knew beforehand about their ages then they very well could have done what Jared is suggesting, but they both know that isn't possible now.

"Because we can't." Paul spoke for them.

"Well, why not?" Jared asks, Sam was looking at them with confusion too. Jared's plan was a good plan, so why couldn't it work?

"Because someone already saw her with me." Paul says, looking away from Maggie and towards Jared.

"Wait, seriously, who?"

"Lindsay." Jared rolls his eyes and huffs as Paul says that.

"Fucken Lindsay is around again. I thought you told her already that it was off."

"I did." Paul glances at Maggie. "Maggie just made it stick."

"So she knows that you two…" Sam trails off.

"Yeah." Jared throws his hands up.

"Well, that's wonderful. There goes that plan." Paul sighs and pulls Maggie into her arms. She doesn't fit him. She wraps her arms around him and rests her head on his chest. He doesn't look fifteen. He looks like he could very well be her age, but she knew that was simply because of the phasing.

"I'll talk to the elders and work something out. Or try to at least. Emily made up a calendar for us." Sam tells them as he points to a big calendar that hung on the wall. "That's the schedule for this year. If you need to switch patrol nights then just let me know." Sam says before heading out. Each square had a different name in it. Sam's was red and in every block except the weekends, while Jared was blue and in every other block except the weekends, and Paul was in green and was the opposite blocks of Jared except the weekends.

"Why did he leave the weekends blank?" Paul asks.

"He was going to talk about that today and see who was willing to do them. The weekends are a bit different. There are the morning, afternoon, and night shifts. He was going to see who wanted to do what for the first weekend and go from there, but I guess that'll have to wait until he gets back."

"I'm suddenly not happy about being the oldest Hale." Maggie sighs, causing Paul to look back down at her. He places a soft kiss on top of her head before sighing.

"You smell good." Maggie smiles and kisses his bare chest. This really was unfair.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Sam will work something out." She whispers.

"I hope so." Paul lifts her chin up and leans down, kissing her soft lips. He wanted to be able to do this whenever he wanted. He didn't want people to tell him he couldn't. This was his girl whether they liked it or not. Now stupid law was going to keep her from him.


End file.
